But while Northern has been criticised, rail campaigners from Slaithwaite & Marsden Action on Rail Transport (SMART) have said they are "astonished" that TransPennine Express (TPE) - which had taken over the majority of services in Kirklees - has been let off the hook.

The report into the crisis, which also occurred in the south east and north west of England, found a serious gap in industry responsibility and accountability for managing risk.

Northern, which was cancelling more than 310 trains a day for several weeks in May and June, was also singled out for not being properly aware of, or prepared for the problems in delivering the timetable.

The ORR investigation also slates Northern for failing to do enough to provide accurate information to passengers when disruption occurred.

The Department for Transport and the ORR itself have also been criticised for a lack of oversight, with the report finding there was insufficient questioning of assurances they received from the industry about the risk of disruption.

The government has now announced a "root and branch" review of Britain's railways.

ORR and Inquiry Chairman, Professor Stephen Glaister said: "The May 2018 timetable was meant to offer more services and reliability, but in reality it led to major disruption for passengers.

"Today’s report uncovers the issues that Network Rail, GTR, Northern, ORR and the DfT together need to address to stop this disruption happening again.

"Central to the issues were that good intentions and over-optimism within the rail industry about its ability to recover missed deadlines left no time to uncover and fix problems.

"When problems arose, timetable planners were stretched and train operators were ill-equipped to help passengers. This meant that staff worked in very difficult circumstances to do as good a job as possible and I thank them for their efforts."

Video Loading

Video Unavailable

Click to playTap to play

The video will start in 8Cancel

Play now

Commenting on the ORR report, David Hagerty, Treasurer of Slaithwaite and Marsden Action on Rail Transport (SMART), said: "We're astonished the report makes no mention of TransPennine Express in the debacle.

"It's a bit like Murder on the Orient Express - they all did it - except that this particular Orient Express keeps being terminated at Stalybridge.

"In just 17 weeks since the timetable change we have seen over 600 cancellations and part-cancellations, almost all of TPE services, at Slaithwaite and Marsden.

"Late trains are so commonplace as to pass without comment.

"While passengers elsewhere in the region have seen their services stabilised, we have seen no improvement.

"TPEs way of dealing with disruption has the effect of making things worse for passengers at Colne Valley stations.

"TPE continue to routinely terminate Manchester-bound trains at Stalybridge, leaving passengers to work out for themselves how to complete their journeys.

"The level of disruption continues to be unacceptable, and there is nothing in the ORR report to suggest that is likely to change in the near future."

Chairman of SMART, Clr Rob Walker, added: "The culture of trying to shift blame comes from the very top of the industry.

"Chris Grayling must accept ultimate responsibility. The current structure is not fit for purpose."

Transport Secretary Chris Grayling (Image: Getty Images Europe)

Announcing the national rail review - the most significant since privatisation was allowed - the Transport Secretary told the BBC's Today programme that the problems were system-wide and that it was his job to "make sure it doesn't happen again".

It will be led by independent chair, Keith Williams, The panel will consider all parts of the rail industry, from the current franchising system and industry structures, accountability, and value for money for passengers and taxpayers.

Commenting on the review, Mr Hagerty said it needed to focus on all passengers, not just the ones travelling between major cities.